| Common darkie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male specimen from Malaya | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Allotinus |
| Species: | A. horsfieldi |
| Binomial name | |
| Allotinus horsfieldi (Moore, 1857) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Allotinus horsfieldi, the common darkie, is a small butterfly found in India [1] [2] that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
It is found in Assam in India to Myanmar. [1] Also Chittagong Hill Tracts. [3] As per Savela the butterfly occurs from Thailand, Langkawi, Malay Peninsula, Tioman, Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra, Bangka, Batu, Celebes and Sundaland. [4]
A small butterfly, 38–44 mm in wingspan. The upper forewing in both sexes has a pale elongated oval discal patch. This may be larger and more diffuse in females. The butterflies are speckled below. [3]
Male upperside: brown. Forewing: an elongate oval pale patch beyond apex of cell. Hindwing: uniform, immaculate. Underside: dull white. Both forewings and hindwings with numerous short, slender, transverse strigae and minute dots, brown. Forewing: dorsal area near base below the cell but not further outwards more or less free of spots and strigae; a narrow brown transverse spot across cell near the base, another across the middle, and a third of the apex of the same; a postdiscal, sinuate, irregular, macular, transverse, broad brownish line followed by a subterminal series of similarly-coloured minute spots. Hindwing: two or three very broken similar transverse broad curved lines, sometimes clearly marked and the detached portions indicating a definite band, in other specimens very irregular and out of line with one another; this is followed by a subterminal series of minute brown dots as on the forewing. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen concolorous with the wings; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen more or less speckled with whitish. [5]
Female. Similar, but in all specimens I have seen invariably smaller. Underside: ground colour of the same brown shade as in the male, the pale postcellular patch on forewing replaced by a diffuse medial patch that spreads into the cell. Hindwing: as in the male. Underside: also similar in ground colour and markings to that of the male, but the markings broader, more clearly defined, and less macular. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. [5]
The butterfly was earlier known [1] and is still classified by some authorities [4] as Allotinus horsfieldii Moore.
The butterfly inhabits low-lying jungle in very wet regions. The males are fond of sitting on the tops of leaves not very high off the ground and making short circular flights. The females flutter about amongst the undergrowth and bushes at forest edges. The butterfly has also been recorded by one observer to settle over hosts of greenflies (aphids), tickle them with the proboscis and feed on the exudations. [3]
Papilio nephelus is a species of swallowtail butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. Subspecies include P. n. chaon, the yellow Helen, and P. n. sunatus, the black and white Helen.
Meandrusa sciron, the brown gorgon, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the hooked swallowtails genus, Meandrusa, of the family Papilionidae. The brown gorgon is found in India from Sikkim to Assam and north Burma and is not considered to be threatened. Though not uncommon, it is protected under Indian law under the name gyas.
Dodona adonira, the striped Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the Punches and Judies, that is, the family Riodinidae.
Miletus boisduvali, the common brownie, is a small but striking butterfly found in India and Myanmar that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Miletus symethus, the great brownie, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777.
Allotinus multistrigatus, the great darkie, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues. The species was first described by Lionel de Nicéville in 1886.
Allotinus subviolaceus, the blue darkie, is a small butterfly found in South East Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Cajetan Felder and Rudolf Felder in 1865.
Allotinus drumila, the crenulate darkie, is a small butterfly found in India, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Yunnan (China) that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Spalgis epius, commonly known as the apefly, is a small species of butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its pupa to the face of an ape.
Tarucus theophrastus, the common tiger blue, pointed Pierrot or African Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in the Old World tropics. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Niphanda cymbia, the pointed Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in northern India, Burma and northern Borneo that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Megisba malaya, the Malayan, is a small butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the family of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). The species was first described by Thomas Horsfield in 1928.
Acytolepis puspa, the common hedge blue, is a small butterfly found in Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapur, Yunnan, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Borneo and New Guinea that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Thomas Horsfield in 1828.
Nacaduba angusta, the white lineblue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in South Asia. The species was first described by Herbert Druce in 1873.
Petrelaea dana, the dingy lineblue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm.
Nacaduba kurava, the transparent six-line blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae found in Asia and Australia. The species was first described by Frederic Moore in 1857.
Prosotas nora, the common lineblue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Asia to Australia. The species was first described by Rudolf Felder in 1860.
Nacaduba pavana, the small four-line blue or Singapore four-line blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Southeast Asia.
Nacaduba berenice, the rounded six-line blue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1869.
Monodontides musina, the Swinhoe's hedge blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South-East Asia, including India.
